AMN
A Special TADA court today convicted key mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The convicted Mustafa Dossa and extradited gangster Abu Salem, besides Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui and Tahir Merchant, and let off one Abdul Quayyum.
While Dossa was convicted on charges of conspiracy and murder under various sections of the IPC besides offences under the TADA Act, the Arms Act and the Explosives Act, Salem was found guilty of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai ahead of the blasts. The other four too have been convicted of conspiracy and murder.
The trial of these seven was separated from the main case as they were arrested at the time of conclusion of the main trial. The first leg of the trial concluded in 2007, wherein the court convicted 100 accused and acquitted 23 people.
On March 12, 1993, within a span of just two hours 12 serial blasts rocked Mumbai leaving 257 people dead, 713 seriously injured, and destroying properties worth 27 crore rupees.
Extradited Gangster Abu Salem was accused of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai. He also handed over to actor Sanjay Dutt, who was an accused in the case for illegally possessing weapons, AK 56 rifles, 250 bullets and some hand grenades at his residence.
The court had dropped certain charges against Salem in 2013 after the CBI moved a plea, saying the charges were against the extradition treaty between India and Portugal.
While Mustafa Dossa, who was extradited from UAE in 2003 has been accused of masterminding the landing of RDX in India. This was the first ever terrorist attack in the world where RDX was used on such a large scale. According to the prosecution, youth were sent to Pakistan to take arms training organized by Mustafa Dossa, Tiger Memon and Chhota Shakeel.
Though the hearing in the case began in 2007, it was delayed as three petitions were pending with the Supreme Court, one each filed by Dossa and Salem, and another by CBI.
The trial resumed in 2012. It was during the 2013 trial that the Supreme Court confirmed key conspirator Yakub Memon’s death sentence, while others were commuted to life imprisonment.
Yakub Memon was executed on July 30, 2015 after his several clemency pleas were rejected, including the post-midnight hearing by SC on the day he was hanged. The court, in all, recorded statements of 750 prosecution witnesses and 50 witnesses.